DETROIT (WWJ) -- A Detroit man has been convicted of murdering a nationally renowned hair stylist from Bloomfield Hills.
Jimmy Jermaine Pickett was convicted by a jury on June 14 on a charge of second-degree murder, which carries a penalty of up to life in prison.
Late on the night of February 11, 2020, Detroit Police officers were dispatched to the JZ Motel in the 14700 block of East 8 Mile Road in Detroit, where an employee had found 56-year-old Bashar Kallabat in a pool of blood.
Police said Pickett used a ride-share service, which Kallabat paid for, to meet his victim at the motel, after it's believed the two men connected on a dating app.
It's alleged, according to prosecutors, that Pickett went into the Kallabat's motel room, fatally beat him and robbed him before fleeing.
Kallabat suffered at least a dozen blows to the head and had skull fractures, officials said. The cause of death found to be blunt force trauma to the head.
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The 24-year-old suspect was later taken into custody on Feb. 15, 2020, near Brewery Park. Police said Pickett was caught on HD security video, and identified in part by his distinctive security guard work uniform.
Investigators found Kallabat's iPad and iPhone in Pickett's possession, and photos of Kallabat on Pickett's phone.
The case was prosecuted by Jaimie Powell Horowitz of the Fair Michigan Justice Project (FMJP), a collaboration between the Prosecutor’s Office and Fair Michigan Foundation, Inc. FMJP is a program that assists Michigan law enforcement officers and prosecutors in solving serious crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons.
Pickett is scheduled to be sentenced on July 13 at 9 a.m.
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